Architectural structure coverings may selectively cover a window, a door way, a skylight, a hallway, a portion of a wall, etc. Generally speaking, architectural structure coverings are extendable and retractable (e.g., able to be lowered or raised, respectively). Some coverings include a drive motor (e.g., an electric motor) that may be controlled to raise or lower the covering. For example, the drive motor may be operated in a first direction to raise the covering and may be operated in a second, opposite, direction to lower the covering. Other coverings may be manually operated to raise or lower the covering. For example, a beaded chain and a pulley, a rope and pulley, a worm gear, etc. may be incorporated so that a user can manually (by hand, without electric motorization) raise or lower the covering as desired.
In connection with the operation of known architectural structure coverings, motorized controllers are often used to lower or raise the covering. Known motorized architectural structure coverings may also incorporate a wireless transceiver to enable remote or wireless control. Alternatively, known architectural structure coverings may be manually operated to lower or raise the covering without electrical motorization. Generally speaking, a user can grab the covering, for example, via a bottom rail and pull up or down on the bottom rail to raise or lower the covering, respectively. Alternatively, the architectural structure covering can be equipped with a cord or chain that the user can pull in one direction or the other to raise or lower the covering, respectively.
Combining manual and motorized operation in an architectural structure covering may cause multiple problems. For example, manually operating an architectural structure covering that is coupled to a motor may cause the motor to rotate, which creates additional or undesirable torque to the system. Moreover, in known motorized architectural structural coverings, the covering cannot be manually operated because if the bottom rail is pulled down, the downward force applied by the user may damage the motor and lift system (e.g., lift cords and spools). Meanwhile, if the bottom rail is raised, if the motor does not rotate, the lift system will not take up the slack in the lift cords causing the covering to fall, returning to its previous undesirable position. In addition, a motorized architectural structure covering often requires a sensor to track the position of the covering so that a controller associated with the motor knows when the covering has reached its upper and lower limits. However, when a user manually adjusts the position of the motorized architectural structure covering, the controller no longer knows the exact position of the covering because the user altered the position of the covering without using the motor. This is a problem because the sensor no longer “knows” what the true upper and lower limits of the covering are.